


Sweater Weather

by lovetears



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bisexual Bill Denbrough, Bisexual Stanley Uris, Cuddling & Snuggling, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Richie Tozier, Georgie Denbrough Lives, Heavy Angst, I Love Bill Denbrough, I Love Richie Tozier, M/M, Mentioned Henry Bowers, Mentioned Pennywise (IT), Reunions, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Stanley Uris Lives, Tags Are Fun, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-01-05 18:44:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21213320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovetears/pseuds/lovetears
Summary: Richie Tozier is sitting in his hotel room with four other people, trying to hold back tears, when the phone rings."Mr. Tozier? There's three people wanting to see you."





	1. All I Am is a Man

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write some Fix-It Fics because I'm desperate for happiness after It Chapter Two. 
> 
> Please enjoy!

"Eddie?"

Daylight peeked into the man's eyes. He scowled and blinked once, twice, and thrice, until he got used to the shining light. _Jesus_. He sat up and looked at his shaking hands, still blurred by the sunlight. 

"Eddie?"

The voice repeated again. The man turned. Who was Eddie? Was... was _he _Eddie? There was no way. He wasn't Eddie. He would've known if he was Eddie, right? 

"Eddie, snap out of it. It's me. It's... _Stan_."

The other person said his name like it was a question, like he wasn't sure of his identity either. "Eddie" huffed and looked up at the sun for a moment before wincing and looking back around. 

"I--"

When he spoke, his voice slowly broke. He then realized his lips were as cracked as _ever_ and his throat was dry and screaming for water. He reached a shaking hand up to his face. He was cold.

"Eddie, for God's _sake_!"

The man turned. He saw another man, then. He was tall and had dark curls on top of his head. He was wearing a white shirt and torn jeans. Eddie noticed cuts across his wrists and his eyes blew wide open.

He managed to find his voice. "Am I Eddie?" He asked shakily. He was sitting. He stood and walked over to the man.

Stan scowled. "Don't you remember?" He asked softly. "You're Eddie Kaspbrak."

Eddie went paler than he was already and gasped audibly. He remembered everything.

_Richie Tozier. Richie Tozier and his jokes._

_Bill Denbrough. Bill Denbrough and his stutter._

_Beverly Marsh. Beverly Marsh and her hair._

_Mike Hanlon. Mike Hanlon and his books._

_Ben Hanscom. Ben Hanscom and his music._

_And S--_

"Stanley Uris," Eddie blurted out. Stan smiled at him, and Eddie blinked, and saw a smaller boy with light curls and bandages around his head with a forced smile. He blinked again, and saw an adult that had grown up with no emotion.

"Eddie Kaspbrak," Stan laughed and then he was hugging him tightly. "Okay... where... where are we?" He asked after the moment was over.

Eddie looked around. He scowled. He didn't recognize anything. He could smell something, though. It smelled like vanilla, and it smelled putrid and not right. Like fake vanilla. He scoffed and glanced around again. He then felt something damp close around him.

He looked down. His feet were in water and he gagged. _Gross_! He turned around and saw a long tunnel, water instead of ground leading into a dark area. He gasped and looked back at Stan.

"Barrens," Eddie managed to say. He was shaking. _No_.

Stan nodded, biting his bottom lip. "The Barrens."

There was a splash. The two men turned around, away from the tunnel. They heard a sobbing little kid and the water splashing around them.

Eddie's vision focused and he noticed a little boy trudging through the water to the left of them.

"Eddie? Stanny?"

The man's jaw dropped. His eyes widened.

Stan was speechless, too.

"Where are we? Can't we go home?" The little kid whined. He crossed his arms in front of his yellow raincoat, soaked with water. "I'm _tired_."

Stanley laughed and shook his head. "Georgie?"

The little kid pouted. "Stanny?" He mocked in the same fashion.

_Little kids are sassy when they're tired_, Eddie took a note, still amazed at what was going on here.

"Can we go?" Georgie complained again.

Eddie nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, let's go."

They turned and began to walk up a hill.


	2. I Want the World in my Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie, Stan, and a confused Georgie Denbrough make it up to the center of Derry. 
> 
> Richie's not doing okay, until he and the others get a phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, so here we get to the actual action. I guess, sort of.  
The last chapter was short, and I apologize for that--I was in a rush to get all my ideas out and I totally forgot about length.  
And I'm going off the song Sweater Weather by The Neighborhood, lyric by lyric, so if that works out, this should be a long one.  
Enjoy this one!

The three boys walked up the mountain with a scowl on their faces.

Georgie Denbrough had a scowl on his face because he was tired and he didn't understand why Stan and Eddie were treating him like he was covered with caution tape and why they had gotten so much _bigger_. 

Stanley Uris had a scowl on his face because his arms were searing with pain, his wrists to be exact. He knew the reason why, but he wasn't going to bring up the way he died in front of a seven year old.

Eddie Kaspbrak had a scowl on his face because he missed Richie Tozier.

That was it.

It took a while to get into the town. The three males were wet with sewage, and it was hot enough for everyone to feel lethargic. They were slick with sweat and water and Eddie thought he would throw up soon.

Once they got there, Stanley broke into tears. He _remembered_. He had remembered when he woke up in the Barrens and looked into the tunnel. He remembered screaming at his friends, kicking them away--

_You left me, y--_

_You're not my friends!_

Stan's heart sunk with guilt. He hoped Eddie didn't remember that. He hoped no one remembered that.

"Stan?"

He looked over at Eddie, who had tears in his eyes. Stan brushed away his own tears and shakily managed to make eye-contact with him. The two gave each other a weak little smile, because here they were.

Two out of seven of the Losers Club.

* * *

The other five members of the Losers Club were trying to stifle their own sobs as they listened to Richie Tozier's.

They had done this before, Bill Denbrough remembered, twice. Once for him, when he was the center of everyone's attention, when he found Georgie's raincoat after defeating Pennywise.

Second time was for Richie, and it was just a couple of hours ago. In the quarry, Richie crying into his own hands. Bill thought Richie had let everything out, but as soon as he got to the hotel and saw Eddie's bags, he collapsed again. 

"He was supposed to take those _home_!" Richie screamed into his hands, and they had nothing to do but hold him. Bill was hugging from the side, Mike on his other, Beverly leaning her head against his, and Ben leaning his head against Richie's knee.

The room was just filled with Richie's cries before Beverly spoke up. "I know, Rich," she said softly and leaned down to kiss his cheek. It wasn't a romantic type of kiss at all. Just comfort. It was normal. "You need to calm down."

Richie was outraged. He whirled around to glare at her. "Calm down? How can I calm down? Stan's dead, Eddie's dead, and we're still in this fucking town!" He screamed and then cried again, turning back around and sobbing.

The phone rang.

Bill scowled. Who could be calling? He reached for the phone.

"Huh-hello?"

"Mr. Tozier?"

Bill huffs. "Yes?" He lies.

"There's three people here who want to see you," the woman says kindly.

Who would want to see Richie? Three people? He wasn't married. Bill cleared his throat. "Um, who?"

The woman said something away from the phone, and then talked again.

"An Eddie, Stan, and George--oh, my apologies, young man--Georgie." 

Bill's world spins.

"Downstairs," is all he can whisper out before getting up and opening the door for the others.


	3. I Hate the Beach, But I Stand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is! The chapter I've been anticipating writing. Don't worry, I have plans for what's going to happen after. All I'm gonna say is it's not gonna be all sunshine and rainbows.

"So, what is it, Big Bill? Finally introducing us to Audra?"

Bill rolled his eyes and slapped Richie's shoulder as he waited by the door. He was still pale and shaking, and he didn't know if the call was a prank, but why else would someone do this? No one knew their connection to Eddie, Stan, and... _God_, Georgie. Was he still seven? Bill was thinking of so many things his head hurt as he watched everyone get ready--their clothes were messy from the previous fight.

"I hate surprises," Beverly said brightly, pulling a light brown sweatshirt on. "Just tell us what's going on, Bill. We could use something good."

Bill's heart pounded. What if it was fake and he got their hopes up for no reason? What if he just imagined it? And what if it was them, just... not really them? There had been multiple times when Pennywise had shapeshifted into Georgie to play with Bill's heartstrings, so what if he was just doing that again? But how could one demon turn into three people at once?

_Well_, Bill thought. _It's worth a try_.

"I guh-got that ca-call," Bill began. "From the fruh-front desk."

Richie rolled his eyes and fell back on the bed. "Get to the point, Denbrough."

Bill shot Richie a glare full of daggers and then cleared his throat, beginning to talk again. "Thuh-they said there wuh-was a Eddie, Stuh-Stan, and a... Guh-Georgie downstairs."

It was hard to explain their reactions, Bill thought. If he wrote a book about this whole moment he would be at a loss for words. Beverly parted her lips and looked down at the ground. Ben hugged himself and leaned against the wall. Mike stared at Bill with wide eyes, and Richie went pale and then red in the face in rage.

"That's not funny," he said coldly, sitting up. "Fuck you."

Bill felt his heart sink. "Nuh-not kid--"

The phone rang.

Everyone turned to look at it. Beverly, being closest to the phone, picked it up with one hand, another arm wrapped around herself. "Hey."

It was deadly quiet. The only thing you could hear was Richie's heavy breathing.

"Oh my God, hi," Beverly breathed out into the phone.

Mike scowled. "Beverly, what? What is it?"

The woman laughed breathlessly and dropped the phone back down. "Some people want to see us."

* * *

Richie Tozier got downstairs quicker than anybody. He looked around for the front desk--_you should've paid more attention, Richie, I told you!_\--and bit his bottom lip, hard, until he ended up finding it.

There was a man standing near the water fountain with a pale red shirt on. He was wearing blue jeans and had a large gauze on his left cheek. It looked like he was inspecting the water fountain for something, and that's when Richie knew it.

That that was his Eddie.

"Hey," he said, but it came out soft and small. Eddie didn't turn.

"Hey!" He said louder.

Eddie did turn and his face turned pink. He stared at Richie, looking him up and down, as if to see if he was real--which was exactly was Richie was doing, too. "Trashmouth?"

Richie nodded and felt hot tears skim the side of his lips. "Yeah," he choked out. "Eds."

It wasn't a movie run-up hug with music playing in the background and the two embracing in a world-shattering hug. It wasn't awkward or different, either. It was just a Richie and Eddie hug.

"Eddie!" Beverly squealed and waved her arms out, and once Eddie had the strength to, he hugged her too, legs quivering. This was just such a perfect moment. It seemed impossible. 

Beverly giggled into Eddie's shoulder, holding him close. "God, this is crazy! I know it's only been a day but like... we can't survive a day without you."

"No pun intended."

"Shut _up, _Richie!" 

Richie looked over at Bev and shrugged. "I didn't say anything."

There was a little chuckle and Stanley Uris waved from the corner, a half-smile on his face. He was... _older_, Bill noted, but you could still see the ghost of a child who was once happy on his face. 

"Suh-Stan," Bill murmured and felt tears prick his eyes. "Hey. I'm s--"

He was crushed by a hug from the other man, and his ears were ringing. He felt thirteen again, helplessly sobbing into the night in the clubhouse Ben had found for him, as Stan held him and shushed him softly, stroking his hair.

Richie grinned and pulled Stan off of Bill. "You can get a room later, but I want a hug. Missed you," he mused and hugged him. The memories of him sitting alone in the temple felt light-years away.

"God, you're so cute!"

"Hi!"

Bill looked over his shoulder at the voices and noticed Beverly and Mike crouching down in front of someone with smiles on their faces. Bill's heart dropped. Or did it rise? He couldn't even tell.

"Billy!"

It felt like an eternity but also five seconds when Georgie Denbrough sprinted up to his brother and hugged him tightly. Caught by surprise, Bill huffed and stumbled back, holding onto his brother with shaking hands. And before he knew it, he was crying and trying to breathe. It didn't feel like there was air left in the air.

"Why are you crying? Don't cry," Georgie pouted, wiping away Bill's tears with his tiny hands.

"I'm nuh-not upset, juh-just--" Bill inhaled shakily. "So glad you're b-back," he breathed out.

The atmosphere was relaxed and excited at the same time, settling in on the eight people. The full seven members! It felt like nothing else could get better, and this was what everyone truly needed.

Thunder grumbled overhead, a signal it wasn't over.

But no one paid too much attention.


	4. In California with my Toes in the Sand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Losers Club plus a confused Georgie Denbrough reunite, and that's when they decide to get to business--how are they back, and why are kids still disappearing?
> 
> OR
> 
> They reunite, and everything seems perfect. But then Stanley Uris has a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be trying to make these chapters longer, since I mostly write them in school during class/resource time, so I'll work on it a lot more at home if needed. Thanks for the love!

"Okay, well... _how?_" 

Mike, being Mike, is the first to break the conversations going on all at once. Bill looks over at him, and he is holding Georgie in his arms. Eddie is sitting next to Richie and leaning his head on his shoulder. Ben and Beverly are holding each of Stan's hands. 

"What do you mean?" Richie asked.

_Stupid_, Bill thinks, but he's over the moon right now, holding onto his little brother like there's nothing else he can do.

"I mean, how are you three back?"

Richie shrugged. "True. Pennywise isn't exactly the nicest guy."

They all laugh at that, except Georgie, who only has a dim memory of the clown--Pennywise, when has he heard that name before? His memory was fogging up and everything is small. Why was Billy so shocked and happy to see him? Was he that memorable?

"I don't remember anything," Eddie says slowly. Richie looks over at him, surprised he's talking. He understands this is probably a sore subject for not just Eddie, but Stan and perhaps Georgie. But Eddie pretends he doesn't notice and continues talking. "Just cold. After I... well, died... I didn't go to heaven or anything. It was cold but warm at the same time--"

Stan speaks, and when he speaks, Beverly squeezes his hand. That's always been Beverly, a comforting woman. "It was hot." He's quiet then and his cheeks are blushing red as he looks down. "For me, I mean."

Bill pulls Georgie away from their hug and the small boy whines. "Whuh-what about you, Guh-Georgie? Do you ruh-remember anything?"

Georgie's eyes widen and fill with tears. "I... just being tired. And missing you, Billy."

Bill smiles again and hugs him. Mike talks, but he doesn't listen. His legs feel cold as he holds his little brother, his one weakness he's had all these years. He feels... at peace. As he should.

There's a clap of thunder and Georgie, being the small child he is, jumps and yelps. Bill leaps a little too at his reaction and just holds him close, looking around at everyone else.

Richie cracks his knuckles and stands up. "Welp," he yawns, rubbing his eyes roughly. "I'm going to beddy-bye. Wanna join me, Eds?"

"Fuck you!" Eddie whispers angrily, slapping Richie's arm. But there's a grin on his face.

Mike shrugs. "It _is_ kinda late," he says and stands up. "Eddie, you know where your room is?" 

He nods.

Stan swallows and hugs himself, looking down. "I... don't have a room."

Bill volunteers, and Stan feels a wave of warmth towards his childhood best friend. Bill grabs his hand as he takes Stan up the stairs to his hotel room, Georgie hanging over his shoulder and giggling, trying to touch the ceiling lights.

"Goodnight, Bill," Stan says softly. Bill mutters something back, but Stan's already sunken into the mattress. 

Then his wrists burn.

* * *

Stanley blinks his eyes open, but he knows he's not truly awake. 

"Fuck," he curses softly and looks around. It's dark. He's in a dark room. He's _stuck_. _Okay, calm down, Stanley. Breathe. You're not going to die--you already died, and you came back. See?_

There's a giggle. Stan whirls around and finds himself face-to-face with that clown. He screams and stumbles back, falling right on his ass and backing up like a pitiful little child.

He blinks and it's gone. He looks over his shoulder and screams again. The clown is there, _right there_!

"Guess--"

The clown is shaking his head as fast as possible. His face turns into Richie's.

"Guess Stanley--"

Richie then screams and his face goes limp, and when he looks back up it's _Beverly_, and Stan's heart swells.

"Guess Stanley couldn't--"

Her body thrusts up and she freezes, mouth opening and blood dripping from her lips.

"Guess Stanley couldn't cut it."

Bill's words are cold as he stares down at Stan. He springs and grabs Stan around the throat, and the other man shrieks in his grasp, kicking his legs out, but Pennywise is a steel force who he can't beat.

He could never beat him.

As soon as Pennywise opens his mouth, Stan wakes up.

And he knows it's not over.


	5. Use the Sleeves of my Sweater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stanley Uris wakes up, startled, from that nightmare.  
And just like before, Bill Denbrough is there for him. And Stanley...  
Stanley feels something.
> 
> OR
> 
> Stenbrough exists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the positive feedback, mwah! I'm super proud of this chapter, so I hope you enjoy!

Stan screamed, bolting awake with a jump. Bill flew upward and put his fists up, and if Stan wasn't terrified out of his own mind, he would've laughed--Bill Denbrough, about to fistfight? It brought back such memories.

"Suh-Stan!" He choked out once he noticed the sobbing man and he reached for him, but Stan didn't budge, just sat there with his hands propped up on the ground and his ass burning into the carpet. He looked up at Bill, who was on the bed, with wet eyes and shook his head. _No_. 

He managed to get up and sat on the bed, shaking violently, and trying to relax. Bill's arms were around him and his eyes filled up with tears again and he bowed his head, trying to breathe. 

"Nightmare," he wheezed.

"What?"

"_Nightmare_." 

Bill was quiet before nodding and resting his head on top of Stan's. "It?"

Stan, confused, turned around to face him. Was he asking a question?

"Did you suh-see It?"

_Oh_. Stan froze and slowly nodded, and it was only when Bill squeezed his hand that he remembered where, in the summer of 1989, he had felt this feeling before.

* * *

_The clubhouse was clean and ordinary, not like how it had been a week before, when Ben first showed them. Eddie, being the person he was, demanded for everyone to clean it up before they had an official meeting, which was unlike other meetings, Stan supposed._

_They talked. They didn't play games or anything, unlike other clubs branded by the school--instead they talked about whatever was bothering them. Sometimes Beverly would walk in with a bruise on her jaw and explain how that was from her _father_, who had died months ago... she had just hidden it was makeup._

_Stan didn't like expressing his feelings. And luckily, neither did Bill. It was an awkward process whenever the attention was turned on either two of them. Bill would just brush some hair away from his eyes and stutter out "the usual" to the question of how he was doing._

_Stan didn't lie. He didn't like expressing his feelings, but that didn't mean he didn't do it. He just... wasn't _good _at it. Wasn't as good as selling the act, one might say, of trying to stay calm even though when he was mentioning the scars on his face and how they could nevergetcleanohmygodtheycouldnevergetclearnomatterhowmuchhetrieditwas--_

_Never enough._

_Stan thought about many things on the rare occasions where Bill did talk, and when he didn't lie to the others. He thought about how the hero facade would come crashing down like a brick wall, slow at first and then fast._

_He thought about how Bill's cries sounded the same as when they did when he first found Georgie's raincoat--high-pitched and small, but loud enough to make any sane person suffer from heartbreak right then and there._

_Bill's parents ignored him. _

_They treated him like he wasn't there._

_Stan wished he could say he could relate, but he couldn't. His parents cared too much, was the problem. That was the problem with Eddie's mother too and Mike's grandparents. They cared too much that he, Eddie, Mike, and sometimes even Ben struggled to give him helping words. They didn't understand._

_Richie's parents weren't too far from that, either. They liked to drink, Richie would say. They would like to drink and take their anger on each other out on Richie. Not as bad as Beverly's father had done to her, but bad enough that Richie needed a new pair of glasses almost every five weeks._

_Bill was different. They could condone that. They knew that he was different. They knew how much he despised the silence. They knew how much he sometimes just wanted to scream into his pillow, and they knew how much his panic attacks could get, and they knew... they just knew about his sleep paralysis._

_The first time Stanley felt _that _way was when Bill grabbed his hand._

_"Bill, what's up?"_

_It was just the two of them. 2:00 on a Sunday. A week after fighting the clown._

_"I luh-love you."_

_Stan's heart pounded and he went pink._

_"You're suh-such a g-g-great friend. You don't guh-get enough credit as you sh-should," Bill managed to say and Stan felt his heart drop, but a compliment was a compliment, and it felt nice anyway. _

_He knew he was a good friend. He knew he was good at helping people out whenever they needed a hug or someone to talk to or just sympathy in general. But hearing it from Bill, who had been through hell in back, was different. Because Bill meant it._

_He meant it._

_Bill cried then and Stan held him as he listened to, even though it sounded horrible, the usual. How Georgie was at his bedside or sometimes on his bed or sometimes on the ceiling--_on the ceiling, Stan, on the ceiling! He was right there!--_and he just held onto him. And he cried, too._

_He hated seeing Bill cry._

* * *

"You're different," Stan sobbed out into Bill's arms.

"Wh-what?"

Stan smiled and shook his head, dark curls moving slightly. "You used to cry when I cried. Or when anyone else cried. It's not a bad thing, it's just... you've changed. I kinda like it."

They stayed like that until the morning.


	6. Let's Have an Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stanley isn't the only one who had nightmares that night, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic is definitley out of my comfort zone just to remind u guys... i normally don't write with uppercase (see recent fics) but i wanted this to look more official so??? well, updates other than this 1 r probably gonna be slow since i have a ton of tests comin' up... enjoy anyway!

Eddie Kaspbrak looked at the pill bottle in his hand.

It was orange with a white cap and a label, as most were. That didn't come as a shock to him. The one thing that _did _shock him is that it felt so real in his hand. And this--this was clearly a dream.

A nightmare, actually. 

The world was spinning, patterns of purple and a sickly shade of green enveloping him and then drawing out, only to attack him again. Eddie winced--every time the colors moved, a bone in him burned.

"Eddie bear?"

It was a high-pitched voice that made him gasp and freeze. His mother... what was her name... called out from behind the colors. Eddie, not sure why he was still holding the pill bottle, tried to push through the colors only to feel all of his bones burning at once and crying out in pain.

"Eddie bear! Take the pills, take the pills! They'll help you get through to me!"

Her voice--_Sonia_, Eddie remembered with a pang--was loud and panicked, and Eddie wondered if this _was _a dream. But it had to be. Sonia was dead. He had gone to the funeral. Seen her body.

"EDDIE! Eddie, _please_," she begged. "Take them, please, swallow them like a good boy, for Mommy, please?"

He felt a pang of guilt and managed to uncap the bottle. This voice was echoing in his mind now, he didn't recognize it: _Even when he's an old old man, Eddie Kaspbrak still listens to his Mommy. Even when he's an old old man, Eddie Kaspbrak still listens to his Mommy. Even when he's an old old man, Eddie Kaspbrak still listens to his Mommy. Even when he's an old old man, Eddie Kaspbrak still listens to his Mommy. Even when he's an old old man, Eddie Kaspbrak still listens to his Mommy. _

He downed the pills.

Eddie shrieked. His throat dried up and he gasped for air, a hand shooting up to his skin over his throat.

It was _burning_.

He fell to his knees and the colors finally moved. His mother wasn't there.

There was Richie, stained with blood.

* * *

Eddie shot awake and gasps.

Unlike Stan, he's alone, and no one else is in his room. At least, that's what he thinks. He can feel breath on the back of his neck, but when he turns, there's nothing there. 

He cries into his hands until his eyes are red. His heart feels like it's slow and his hands are shaking. And most importantly, he thinks of Richie.

He's thinking of Richie when tears began running down his cheeks and he begins to sob.

He's thinking of Richie when there's a knock on the door.

"Eddie?"

Eddie shoots his head up and gasps. _Richie_! He runs to the door and opens it.

He's met with a gloved hand wrapped around his neck.


	7. Head in the Clouds, But my Gravity's Centered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie's missing.

No one noticed Eddie was gone until 7 AM the next morning, when breakfast was served at the hotel and Richie went to wake him up so they could start talking about It as early as possible.

Richie had opened the door and looked around his room for a solid five minutes after he began crying, uttering small "no"'s under his breath as he practically turned the room upside down. 

"I can't--I can't find Eddie," Richie had breathed out through a heaving chest and small sobs. His hands were shaking like they were on top of the road of a race-car track.

Bill and Beverly went up to Eddie's room to look around a little more, and were horrified to see that he _was _gone.

Eddie was missing.

* * *

"Did he... did he _leave_?" Mike suggested, taking a sip from his coffee mug and shivering a little.

Richie shook his head, still pale in the face. "He wouldn't leave. Eddie wouldn't... he wouldn't leave. His bags weren't even packed, and where would he go? Back to his abusive wife?"

Ben looked over at Richie with a raised eyebrow. "He has an abusive _wife_?"

"How the tables turn, I know," Richie sighed softly and held his face in his hands. "He told me before we went to fight It, you know. He needed to cry. I lost him and I got him back but now... he's gone again, and I--"

A sob broke through Richie's throat and Stan put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Rich."

The comedian's eyes burned with rage as he looked up at Stan, tears pouring down his cheeks. "It's not _fucking _okay, he's g--"

"Richie?"

Everyone looked over to find Georgie Denbrough with a thumb in his mouth, white and orange pajamas on. He sucked on his thumb before pulling it away. "Are you okay? Where's Eddie?"

Bill sighed softly and reached over to grab his little brother and hold him. "He juh-just went on a wuh-walk. He'll be bbbbback soon."

Georgie nodded weakly and shut his eyes. "I'm tired. I couldn't sleep last night."

"Why not?" Mike asked him curiously.

"Nightmare."

It was quiet for a moment before Stan spoke up. "I had a nightmare, too. What'd you dream about, Georgie?"

The little boy's eyes filled with tears and shook his head. "Clown. He was mad at me!" He yelled and began crying into Bill's shoulder, who shot Mike a nervous look.

"Oh my God."

When everyone glanced over at Richie, he was even paler than before.

"I know where Eddie is."

* * *

Eddie Kaspbrak.

Who _are _you?

A closeted gay man, who was forced into a marriage with a woman who was way too much like his mother Sonia. Forcing those pills into his mouth, making him kiss her, making him not look at those men at the clubs. 

Making him not think about Richie Tozier.

Eddie opened his eyes with a gasp and looked around. He wasn't in the sewers... it was actually shockingly bright, so bright he grunted softly and looked around.

"Eddie?"

He looked over his shoulder. Richie.

"Oh my God, Richie, where are we?" He whispered softly, hands shaking. He stood to his feet and then toppled over again.

He was so, so tired.

As his eyes began to shut, he saw Richie's face turn and recoil and twist into a clown's face. A sob fell through Eddie's lips before he went quiet.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
There's definitely gonna be loads more chapters!


End file.
